Title

Authors

Publication Date

12-1-2005

Degree Program

Educational Leadership

Degree Type

Doctor of Philosophy

Abstract

This dissertation was an exploratory investigation of the residual effect of novice primary teachers on reading achievement scores. The study employed the theory of pedagogical content knowledge as a basis for understanding teacher expertise and comparing the expert teacher to the novice teacher. The research sought to answer two major questions; (a) Is there a statistically significant difference between the reading achievement, (measured two years later) of students taught by teachers of differing experience levels in primary grades and the state mean for the appropriate grade level? and (b) Is there a statistically significant difference among the two-year-later reading achievement of the groups of students based on teacher experience levels? This study used student reading achievement test scores from the CTBS/5 Achievement Test published by CTB/McGraw Hill. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) using a series of nine Mests and three analysis of variance tests (ANOVAs). While the findings of this study indicated that there were no statistically significant differences among the groups, the author discussed several limitations to the study. In addition, proposals for future research in the area were presented. The final pages of the dissertation posit that school system administrators must use the information on novice teachers available to them to implement and strengthen programs of teacher recruitment, placement, training, and retention.